"It seems to me," began the Scarecrow, when all were again assembled in thethrone room, "that the girl Jinjur is quite right in claiming to be Queen.And if she is right, then I am wrong, and we have no business to beoccupying her palace."

"But you were the King until she came," said the Woggle-Bug, strutting upand down with his hands in his pockets; "so it appears to me that she is theinterloper instead of you."

"Especially as we have just conquered her and put her to flight," added thePumpkinhead, as he raised his hands to turn his face toward the Scarecrow.

"Have we really conquered her?" asked the Scarecrow, quietly. "Look out ofthe window, and tell me what you see."

Tip ran to the window and looked out.

"The palace is surrounded by a double row of girl soldiers," he announced.

"I thought so," returned the Scarecrow. "We are as truly their prisoners aswe were before the mice frightened them from the palace."

"My friend is right," said Nick Chopper, who had been polishing his breastwith a bit of chamois-leather. "Jinjur is still the Queen, and we are herprisoners."

"But I hope she cannot get at us," exclaimed the Pumpkinhead, with a shiverof fear. "She threatened to make tarts of me, you know."

"Don't worry," said the Tin Woodman. "It cannot matter greatly. If you stayshut up here you will spoil in time, anyway. A good tart is far moreadmirable than a decayed intellect."

"Very true," agreed the Scarecrow.

"Oh, dear!" moaned Jack; "what an unhappy lot is mine! Why, dear father, didyou not make me out of tin -- or even out of straw -- so that I would keepindefinitely."

"Shucks!" returned Tip, indignantly. "You ought to be glad that I made youat all." Then he added, reflectively, "everything has to come to an end,some time."

"But I beg to remind you," broke in the Woggle-Bug, who had a distressedlook in his bulging, round eyes, "that this terrible Queen Jinjur suggestedmaking a goulash of me -- Me! the only Highly Magnified and ThoroughlyEducated Woggle-Bug in the wide, wide world!"

"I think it was a brilliant idea," remarked the Scarecrow, approvingly.

"Don't you imagine he would make a better soup?" asked the Tin Woodman,turning toward his friend.

"Well, perhaps," acknowledged the Scarecrow.

The Woggle-Bug groaned.

"I can see, in my mind's eye," said he, mournfully, "the goats eating smallpieces of my dear comrade, the Tin Woodman, while my soup is being cooked ona bonfire built of the Saw-Horse and Jack Pumpkinhead's body, and QueenJinjur watches me boil while she feeds the flames with my friend theScarecrow!"

This morbid picture cast a gloom over the entire party, making them restlessand anxious.

"It can't happen for some time," said the Tin Woodman, trying to speakcheerfully; "for we shall be able to keep Jinjur out of the palace until shemanages to break down the doors."

"And in the meantime I am liable to starve to death, and so is the Woggle-Bug," announced Tip.

"As for me," said the Woggle-Bug, "I think that I could live for some timeon Jack Pumpkinhead. Not that I prefer pumpkins for food; but I believe theyare somewhat nutritious, and Jack's head is large and plump."

"How heartless!" exclaimed the Tin Woodman, greatly shocked. "Are wecannibals, let me ask? Or are we faithful friends?"

"I see very clearly that we cannot stay shut up in this palace," said theScarecrow, with decision. "So let us end this mournful talk and try todiscover a means to escape."

At this suggestion they all gathered eagerly around the throne, wherein wasseated the Scarecrow, and as Tip sat down upon a stool there fell from hispocket a pepper-box, which rolled upon the floor.

"What is this?" asked Nick Chopper, picking up the box.

"Be careful!" cried the boy. "That's my Powder of Life. Don't spill it, forit is nearly gone."

"And what is the Powder of Life?" enquired the Scarecrow, as Tip replacedthe box carefully in his pocket.

"It's some magical stuff old Mombi got from acrooked sorcerer," explained the boy. "She brought Jack to life with it, andafterward I used it to bring the Saw-Horse to life. I guess it will makeanything live that is sprinkled with it; but there's only about one doseleft."

"Then it is very precious," said the Tin Woodman.

"Indeed it is," agreed the Scarecrow. "It may prove our best means of escapefrom our difficulties. I believe I will think for a few minutes; so I willthank you, friend Tip, to get out your knife and rip this heavy crown frommy forehead."

Tip soon cut the stitches that had fastened the crown to the Scarecrow'shead, and the former monarch of the Emerald City removed it with a sigh ofrelief and hung it on a peg beside the throne.

"That is my last memento of royalty" said he; "and I'm glad to get rid ofit. The former King of this City,who was named Pastoria, lost the crown to the Wonderful Wizard, who passedit on to me. Now the girl Jinjur claims it, and I sincerely hope it will notgive her a headache."

"A kindly thought, which I greatly admire," said the Tin Woodman, noddingapprovingly.

"And now I will indulge in a quiet think," continued the Scarecrow, lyingback in the throne.

The others remained as silent and still as possible, so as not to disturbhim; for all had great confidence in the extraordinary brains of theScarecrow.

And, after what seemed a very long time indeed to the anxious watchers, thethinker sat up, looked upon his friends with his most whimsical expression,and said:

"My brains work beautifully today. I'm quite proud of them. Now, listen! Ifwe attempt to escape through the doors of the palace we shall surely becaptured. And, as we can't escape through the ground, there is only oneother thing to be done. We must escape through the air!"

He paused to note the effect of these words; but all his hearers seemedpuzzled and unconvinced.

"The Wonderful Wizard escaped in a balloon," he continued. "We don't knowhow to make a balloon, of course; but any sort of thing that canfly through the air can carry us easily. So I suggest that my friend the TinWoodman, who is a skillful mechanic, shall build some sort of a machine,with good strong wings, to carry us; and our friend Tip can then bring theThing to life with his magical powder."

"Bravo!" cried Nick Chopper.

"What splendid brains!" murmured Jack.

"Really quite clever!" said the Educated Woggle-Bug.

"I believe it can be done," declared Tip; "that is, if the Tin Woodman isequal to making the Thing."

"I'll do my best," said Nick, cheerily; "and, as a matter of fact, I do notoften fail in what I attempt. But the Thing will have to be built on theroof of the palace, so it can rise comfortably into the air."

"To be sure," said the Scarecrow.

"Then let us search through the palace," continued the Tin Woodman, "andcarry all the material we can find to the roof, where I will begin my work."

"First, however," said the Pumpkinhead, "I beg you will release me from thishorse, and make me another leg to walk with. For in my present condition Iam of no use to myself or to anyone else."

So the Tin Woodman knocked a mahogany center-table to pieces with his axeand fitted one of the legs, which was beautifully carved, on to the body ofJack Pumpkinhead, who was very proud of the acquisition.

"It seems strange," said he, as he watched the Tin Woodman work, "that myleft leg should be the most elegant and substantial part of me."

"That proves you are unusual," returned the Scarecrow. "and I am convincedthat the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusualones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and dieunnoticed."

"Spoken like a philosopher!" cried the Woggle-Bug, as he assisted the TinWoodman to set Jack upon his feet.

"How do you feel now?" asked Tip, watchingthe Pumpkinhead stump around to try his new leg."

As good as new" answered Jack, Joyfully, "and quite ready to assist you allto escape."

"Then let us get to work," said the Scarecrow, in a business-like tone.

So, glad to be doing anything that might lead to the end of their captivity,the friends separated to wander over the palace in search of fittingmaterial to use in the construction of their aerial machine.